


Today’s Another Day To Find You

by velvetjinx



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Clint never actually appears on screen, Cussing, F/M, Inspired by a Movie, M/M, Misunderstandings, Non-Serum Steve Rogers, Past James Bucky Barnes/Brock Rumlow, Past James Bucky Barnes/Others, Pining, stucky is endgame I swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 19:44:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13441992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetjinx/pseuds/velvetjinx
Summary: Steve Rogers is a lawyer and a crusader for good. He finds himself working for a corporation who stand against everything he fights for in the hope of causing change from the inside. It quickly becomes too much, and Steve finds himself falling for his boss when it’s already too late. But is it?





	Today’s Another Day To Find You

**Author's Note:**

> I love the movie Two Weeks Notice and I suddenly thought BUT WHAT IF STEVE AND BUCKY so anyway this happened.
> 
> Thanks to the CapRBB slack chat for cheerleading and ediblecrayon for the once over.
> 
> Title from Aha’s Take On Me.

Steve stood strong with his friends Sam and Natasha as the workman yelled at them to “Get the fuck out the way so we can do our job!” As far as Steve was concerned, the worrying trend of developers—especially Barnes Inc.—knocking down community centers and beautiful old buildings for high rise apartments and hotels was a disgrace. 

“Okay, get out your mats!” Steve said, and the three of them took their mats out of their backpacks, unrolling them on the ground in front of the building and lying on them. 

The workmen glared at them, and one of them picked up his phone. 

“Hey, Natasha?” Sam said suddenly. “Will you marry me?”

“Oh my god!” Natasha gasped. “Are you serious? Yes! Of course I will!”

As his friends smooched beside him, Steve couldn’t help but contemplate his own love life. His boyfriend Clint was currently on a Greenpeace boat saving the whales, and Steve wished he missed him more. They’d been together three years, but Steve sometimes felt that he could just as easily do without him. 

He tamped down that thought. Of course he and Clint were in love. They were fellow crusaders, fighting for what was right.  
A siren sounded as Steve saw a cop car draw up, and he sighed. He just hoped that Sam’s parents would bail them out again. He’d pay them back instantly, that wasn’t a problem, but they were probably getting pretty tired of their son being arrested. If Steve’s mom was still alive she’d have been so proud of him. She had been an activist her whole life, and she had brought Steve up to have a very powerful sense of right and wrong. 

Luckily, Sam’s parents bailed them out immediately, and Steve hugged them, Sam, and Natasha. “Thanks again, and congratulations, guys!” he said, and went back to his apartment. He ordered more Indian food than two people would normally be able to eat, and finished the lot. Steve was small and skinny, but he’d always had an enormous appetite. His mom had nicknamed him Logi when he was small, because he consumed everything like fire—quickly and leaving nothing behind.  
He finished his food and relaxed on the sofa. It had been a hell of a day, and they’d failed again, but he had to keep fighting. It was in his nature. 

***

The following day, he got a phone call from Sam. “Steve, you’re not gonna believe this!” Sam said urgently in lieu of a hello. “Barnes Inc. is gonna tear down our community center to build a huge hotel. We have to do something! That center is the heart of our community!”

Steve sighed. “That’s it. I’m going right to the source.”

“Don’t Barnes Inc. have a restraining order on you where you can’t go within fifty feet of their building after that stunt you pulled with the water balloons?”

“Then I’ll wait on the sidewalk. There’s gotta be something I can do. I’ll report back when I can. Either that or you’ll need to bail me out again.”

“Good luck!” 

Steve ended the call and sighed, before finishing dressing. Today was gonna be A Day. He could sense it. 

***

Steve hung around on the sidewalk outside the Barnes Inc. offices for an hour before the doors opened and out came James Buchanan Barnes, more commonly known as Bucky, the eldest child and heir to the Barnes company and bulk of the fortune. As he neared the car which had drawn up on the sidewalk, Steve could hear him talking into his phone. “Yes, well, how was I to know that ‘lawyers4you-dot-com’ wasn’t a legitimate place to find a decent lawyer? No, Becca, I did not just hire him because he had a nice ass. No, I did not hire the one before because of her huge tits. You’re so cynical.”

Steve ran up to him, waving his arms. “Mr Barnes? My name is Steve Rogers and I’m a lawyer, and I want to talk to you about the Gravesend community center which you intend to demolish for one of your hotels.”

Mr Barnes paused. “Hang on, Becca, I gotta call you back.” He ended the call and looked at Steve curiously. “Steve Rogers. I know that name. Wasn’t it you with the water balloons last year?”

“Um. Yeah,” Steve replied sheepishly. 

“But you’re a lawyer?”

“Yes?”

Mr Barnes narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Well, hop in! I don’t have all day.”

Steve froze in shock, then shook himself and got into the car, Mr Barnes climbing in after him. “The Barnes Plaza, please,” Mr Barnes told the driver, before turning to Steve. “So you say you’re a lawyer. Where did you get your qualification? Please don’t say the internet.”

“Um, Harvard. Look, Mr Barnes—”

“Call me Bucky.”

“—this is a very serious matter, and I’d like you to really think about what kind of negative effect you’re gonna have on the community if you knock down this building.”

Bucky looked at him for a moment. “Okay, Steve? Steve. Here’s the thing. I need a lawyer. You need a favor. How about you come work for me, help us get the planning permission for the hotel and I’ll do my best to save your community center. Then maybe my parents and Becca will get off my back,” he added under his breath. 

“Um?” Steve stared at Bucky. “You can’t seriously want me to work for you? I’ve spent my entire life fighting against people like you!”

“And how far have you got with that?” Bucky asked. “Maybe you’ll be able to enable more change from inside. Ever think of that?” Steve was floored. What Bucky was saying made sense, in a weird kind of way. Maybe he could direct more change by influencing from the inside. “Plus I’ll offer you 250 thousand dollars a year starting salary plus benefits.”

Steve nearly choked. “Okay?”

“Great! Okay first we’ll have to deal with my divorce. You’re okay to start tomorrow, right?”

“I… guess?”

“Awesome. Okay, I’m going to a meeting, where do you want me to drop you?”

“Here is fine?” He could get a cab home. He needed some place to think. 

“Okay. See you at nine a.m. tomorrow!”

Steve got out the car, head reeling. What the fuck had he just signed up for?

***

The following morning, Steve showed up to the Barnes Inc. offices, wearing clothing that was considerably smarter than he’d normally wear and sweating nervously. He gave his name at the front desk, and the woman there smiled. 

“Mr Barnes is expecting you,” she said brightly. 

“Where is, uh, Mr Barnes?” 

“His office is on the top floor along with Mrs Proctor’s.”

“And, uh, Mr Barnes senior?”

The woman looked shocked. “Didn’t you know? The senior Mr Barnes retired to the Bahamas with his wife. Of course”—the woman lowered her voice conspiratorially—“everyone knows that old Mr Barnes is still in the driving seat. But he wanted to build his kids’ confidence, you know?”

“Wow.” Steve was floored. “Okay, well, thank you…?”

“Anna.”

“Hi Anna. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Steve.”

Steve made his way up to the top floor, and knocked on the door labeled “James B Barnes”. 

“Come in!” cane a voice from inside, and Steve opened the door. “Steve! You made it! I was hoping you hadn’t changed your mind. I’ll take you down to your office.” Steve was whisked back out to the elevator and taken down a few floors. “Okay, so tell me about yourself, Steve,” Bucky said as they walked. “Got any interests? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?”

Steve tensed. “I believe in justice for people who aren’t billionaires,” he said stiffly, “and I do have a boyfriend. His name is Clint and he’s currently on a Greenpeace boat.”

Bucky looked amused. “Of course he is. Well, this office is yours!” 

Steve gaped. It was nicer than any office he’d ever worked in. “This is mine?”

“Mhm. I'll leave you to get settled in, but come up and meet me at ten, okay? We’ll start discussing my _divorce_.” Bucky screwed up his face and Steve felt his lips twitch. 

When Bucky had left, Steve looked around. He settled at his desk, and sank back into the comfiest desk chair ever. He closed his eyes briefly as he wiggled around, when someone cleared their throat from in front of him. His eyes flew open and widened when he realized he wasn’t alone. 

A woman was standing in front of him, grinning. “Hey! You must be Steve?”

“Yeah? I mean, yeah.”

“I’m here to help you get set up on your computer. My name is Wanda.”

“Hi.” Steve reached across the desk to shake her hand, and she pulled up a chair. 

It took them around half an hour to get Steve used to the system and server folders he’d need to use, then Wanda got up, stretching, before looking at Steve curiously. “There’s word around the office that you’re, you know. _That_ Steve Rogers. You know. The one who did the water balloon thing.”

Steve grimaced. “Uh, yeah. That was me.”

“No way!” Wanda began to laugh. “Oh my god, that’s hilarious. Why the hell did you want to work here when you hate everything this company stands for?”

“Because sometimes you have to try and work from inside to get results,” Steve replied, and Wanda grinned. 

“Well, good luck with that.” She looked at her watch. “Shoot, I’m late. Let me know if you run into any problems—my extension is in the directory—but otherwise have a great day!”

When Wanda had left, Steve spent the next half an hour going through his emails—there were several ‘new starter’ emails he had to read, some of which he had to action—before making his way back up to the top floor. 

As he approached Bucky’s office, a young woman with chestnut hair blew out of the door like a hurricane, looking annoyed. “And you’re an asshole, _James_ ,” she yelled over her shoulder before slamming the door. She looked at Steve curiously, but said nothing, going in to the other office and banging the door shut. 

Steve knocked tentatively on the door of Bucky’s office, opening it when bid to come in. Bucky was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands, and he looked tired. Steve’s heart ached at the sight, somehow. 

“Oh, hey, Steve,” Bucky said, looking up. “Sorry about my sister. She’s… kind of a spitfire. And the fire is usually being spit in my direction.”

“Oh.” What else could Steve say?

“Anyway, siddown. We gotta talk divorce.”

Steve sat, and took notes as Bucky spoke, although his mind was elsewhere. He wondered what the siblings could have been arguing about so heatedly. 

By the time it was five, Steve was tired. He said goodnight to Anne as he left, and headed home. He had planned to call Natasha and Sam to tell them about his new job, but found he couldn’t face them at that moment. He had a feeling they would judge him, despite his reasoning, and it had been a busy day. Plus he had to get up early the next morning to meet with Bucky’s soon-to-be-ex-husband, Brock, and he wasn’t sure how that would go. He wanted to be well rested.

***

The following morning saw Steve and Bucky sitting in one of the meeting rooms in the offices of Pierce, Pierce, and Zola. Brock looked far too self satisfied, convinced he was going to walk away with a large settlement. Steve was all to happy that he would be able to burst that bubble. 

Brock’s lawyer, Pierce senior, tapped his pen against his legal pad. “It’s quite simple. According to the conditions of the prenup, Mr Barnes’s infidelities mean that my client is entitled to the full settlement.”

Steve leaned forward. “So you say, but another condition of the prenup was that any infidelity on your client’s part made that clause null and void, and there’s a certain former intern of Barnes Inc. who is willing to come forward, as apparently he and your client had sex on a variety of sitting room furniture.” Pierce senior looked at his client in surprise. “So no, we will not…”

“We’ll pay the settlement,” Bucky interrupted, and Steve looked at him in shock. “And Brock can have the cottage in the Hamptons.”

Steve recovered himself quickly. “If Mr Barnes-Rumlow will sign these documents…”

“Don’t fucking call me that. You nasty little whore, I bet you’re banging him already, aren’t you?” Brock snarled, dashing his glass of water over Steve’s face. Pierce held Brock back as Steve sneezed—the water had gone up his nose—and Bucky dabbed at him with a tissue. 

Brock was still making a ruckus, so Pierce took him out of the room, calling back, “We’ll send the signed papers over ASAP!” as he left. 

“You wanna get out of here?” Bucky murmured, and Steve nodded.

Once out of the building, Bucky sighed happily. Steve threw his hands in the air. “You know you didn’t have to give him anything at all?”

Bucky shrugged. “If I hadn’t, he’d never have left me alone. This way, I get a clean divorce and he can’t complain. And the divorce is, frankly, all I care about. Brock was kind of an enormous douchebag.” As they walked, they passed a hotdog stand, and Bucky bought a hotdog, telling the guy to keep the change from a fifty. Steve rolled his eyes.

“You really don’t care, do you? You just throw money around.”

Bucky looked at him curiously. “Come on, Steve. You know as well as I do that hotdog sellers don’t make that much. It’s not that you don’t want me to give money away; it’s that you want me to give it to the right people.”

Steve gaped at Bucky, who was already walking away to hail a cab. That wasn’t… he wasn’t… that was so inaccurate! He rushed after Bucky to tell him so, but then Bucky was bundling him into the cab and chatting away so Steve didn’t get the chance.

***

_Two weeks later_

Steve was rushed off his feet. He was trying to get the environmental papers together for the hotel application but of course they wanted them in triplicate and of course once he had printed them out he noticed a half dozen typos so he had to do it all again.

As he marched to the printer, he heard Bucky calling his name and turned around. “Steve!” Bucky said with a smile as he approached. “I need your advice. I’ve been asking everyone this question and no one has been able to give me a satisfactory answer.” He held up two envelopes, made of shiny paper, and set his mouth in a line. “I’m getting some new custom stationery and I’ve narrowed it down to these two. This one”—he shook the one in his left hand—“is a linen finish and a triangular flap while this one”—he shook the one in his right hand—“is vellum finish with a rectangle flap.” He looked hopefully at Steve.

Steve thought for a moment. “Hmm,” he hummed, “well, considering a lot of trees died to make this very nice, completely unrecyclable stationery…” He took the first one from Bucky, licking the glue. “Bleh,” he said, grimacing, then took the second and did the same. “Bleurgh! Yeah, the first one. It tastes better.”

Bucky stared at Steve, eyes wide. “Do you know, I’ve asked fifty people that question and you’re the first person to give me that answer? You’re a genius. Thank you!” 

He ran off, leaving Steve staring after him in confusion.

After that, the floodgates opened. Bucky seemed to view Steve as his personal guru, a decision making genius, and every decision he had to make he ran past Steve. Steve was at first flattered, but as the calls to his cell started to run on well into the night (and early hours of the morning), he became increasingly frustrated.

He tried to explain to Bucky about _boundaries_ and _personal time_ , and Bucky would be really good for about two days before it all started again. Steve helped with everything, from whether Bucky should put his name down for a charity tennis match to the new mattress Bucky was buying for his bed. That one, to be fair, had been pretty funny. They had been wandering around the store when Bucky had sighed.

“Look. We’re not going to be able to make a decision until we try some out.”

“What.” Steve said flatly.

Bucky rolled his eyes and pulled Steve down onto one of the mattresses. Steve lay there, next to his boss, feeling rather uncomfortable, until Bucky started… bouncing. Just… bouncing side to side, on his back. Steve couldn’t help but giggle, and Bucky looked over at him, grinning. 

“I’m thinking this one doesn’t have enough give in it. Next!”

Together, they tried out pretty much every mattress in the store before Bucky decided on which to buy. Not too hard, but not too soft. 

Steve tried and failed to stop thinking about exactly what Bucky was going to be doing on his mattress. It wasn’t like Steve hadn’t noticed that Bucky was a handsome guy, but somehow being this close to him on a regular basis meant that Steve was noticing little things, like how blue his eyes were, or the sharpness of his cheekbones, or the way he scrunched up his nose when he laughed. 

If Steve wasn’t careful, Bucky was going to become a problem. 

He scrunched his eyes shut and thought of Clint, but Clint’s short blond hair kept morphing into long brown hair, and his features would sharpen, and Steve would just be thinking about Bucky again. 

Two weeks after the mattress fiasco, Steve was awoken by Aha’s _Take On Me_ blaring from his phone—Bucky’s personal ringtone which he’d chosen himself. (He was also aware that his ringtone in Bucky’s phone was Toto’s _Africa_ , although he wasn’t entirely sure why, and Bucky was being annoyingly mysterious about the whole thing.)  
He grabbed his cell off the bedside table and peered at it blearily before answering. “Bucky. Do you know what time it is?” he asked grouchily.

“ _Oh, hey! It’s three a.m.! How about that!_ ” came the rather slurred reply.

“Uh huh. And what did we say about middle of the night calls?”

“ _Um. Only in an emergency?_ ”

“Mhm. And is this an emergency?”

“ _Yes? Well, okay, no, but Bambi wants to talk to you! She’s a law student at NYU!_ ”

“Bambi?” Steve mouthed, before sighing. “Put her on the phone.”

“ _...Really?_ ”

“Yes, Bucky, put her on the phone now.”

There was a moment of silence, before… “ _Hey!_ ”

“Hi, Bambi. You sound like a nice girl. Too nice for someone like Bucky, who has literally just got divorced and has also recently had to get a prescription for cream for a very suspicious rash. So I’d take your drink, go back to your friends, finish college and make something of yourself that isn’t a trophy wife! Because you deserve so much better, okay?”

“ _Um, okay?_ ”

“Now put Bucky back on please.”

There was some muffled talking on the other end of the call, then: “ _Uh, did you two have a nice chat?_ ”

Steve squeezed his eyes shut. “Yes. She seems like a very nice girl.” He paused, sighing. “Look, it is three a.m. and I have to finish preparing those environmental documents tomorrow morning for submission, so I’ll speak to you tomorrow, okay, Bucky?”

He ended the call and fell back onto his pillows, groaning. This was unsustainable.

_Two weeks later_

Steve couldn’t stop the tears, both angry and upset, from welling up as he violently stapled the fifty copies of the document he had on his desk. When Bucky came in, swinging a tennis racket and whistling cheerfully, Steve glared up at him until he stopped.

“What happened?” Bucky asked, tone concerned. 

“Apparently,” Steve began, hitting the stapler with excessive force, “I’m ‘emotionally unavailable and cold’. Can you believe this? Three years together and suddenly he ends it, giving me bullshit excuses.” He thwacked the stapler again. “I cannot believe him. I bet he’s screwing one of those Greenpeace sluts.” He smacked the stapler, but no staples came out, so he hit it again. And again. And again. 

Bucky snatched the stapler away.

“Come on, Steve,” Bucky said firmly. “You need to get out of here. We’re going to spend the afternoon on my yacht.”

“Nuh-uh, I don’t like boats,” Steve said, shaking his head. 

“What, all boats?”

“Um, yes, all boats.”

“Well,” Bucky said, grinning wickedly, “I think we need to change your mind.”

***

Steve felt great. Well. Great and… kinda floaty. Hah, floaty. That was funny because he was on a boat, get it?

It was entirely possible that Steve was very drunk.

He lost count of the number of times he nearly fell overboard and Bucky had to save him, but he was having a good time! On a boat! Clearly it was a magical boat.

“Magical boat, huh?” Bucky said, smiling softly as he swirled his own whiskey around in his glass. It was only Bucky’s second drink, and Steve frowned, wondering why Bucky wasn’t drinking as much too. “Because I have to watch you like a hawk so you don’t fall into the harbor,” Bucky told him, and huh. Had Steve said that out loud? “Yeah, you did.” Bucky didn’t seem annoyed, though. He was still smiling, although he was a little fuzzy around the edges.

“Fucking… fucking Clint,” Steve slurred. “How dare he say those things? Like, maybe I’m a little bit reserved and don’t wear my heart on my sleeve all the time. What’s wrong with that? Maybe he just couldn’t cope with my raw sexual power.” Bucky nearly choked on his drink, but Steve ignored him. “Underneath this lawyer exterior I’m like a bobcat. Wild, untamed…” Steve closed his eyes and swayed slightly. “Plus I’m very bendy. I do yoga, you know. I can bend myself like a pretzel. A wild bobcat pretzel.”  
He tried to demonstrate but nearly fell overboard again. “Whoops!” Bucky said, catching him and smiling. “Well, I know that’s something I always look for in a guy.”

“Right? I bet even you aren’t immune to my charms.” Steve looked up at Bucky, realizing that his face was very pretty, and very close. He looked at Bucky’s lips, full and slightly shiny from where he’d licked them, and leaned in…

Passing out before he could reach him.

The following morning, he woke up on Bucky’s sofa, and as pieces of the night before came back to him, he groaned. He was never drinking again. But Bucky seemed to have forgotten everything Steve had said, acting completely normally around him, so maybe Steve had gotten away with it.

_Two months later_

Steve stood at the altar beside Sam, watching with him as Natasha walked down the aisle, resplendent in her wedding dress. She and Sam smiled softly at each other as they took each other’s hands. Their voices were steady as they recited their vows, and as Sam was halfway through his, Steve’s cellphone buzzed with a text message. He surreptitiously pulled it out of his suit, and saw that it was an emergency text from Bucky. 

Steve’s only thought was _fuck, I hope he hasn’t set something on fire again_ and he pocketed his cellphone. Sam was finishing his vows, but raised an eyebrow at Steve, who smiled apologetically. 

“Sorry, guys, it’s an emergency,” he whispered as he handed the box with the rings to the second groomsman. “You both look so great. I’ll hopefully be back for the reception.”

He dashed down the aisle and out the church, calling Bucky as he went. “Where are you right now?” he asked, then listened to the reply. “Okay, I’m on my way.”

Steve hailed a cab, and when it drew up in front of the hotel where Bucky lived he threw some money at the driver and jumped out, running into the hotel to the elevators. There were no fire trucks, which was good, but then what could possibly be the emergency?

The elevator finally reached the penthouse and Steve bolted out, calling Bucky’s name as he stumbled over a pile of laundry.  
Bucky emerged from his bedroom, wearing a shirt, socks, underwear, and nothing else. “Oh, good, you’re here!” he said with a relieved sigh.

“What is it? Did they not accept the amended proposal? Because if that’s the case then I’m gonna scream—”

“Steve? Why are you all dressed up?”

“I was at Natasha and Sam’s wedding?”

Bucky suddenly looked very guilty, and Steve had a very bad feeling. “You, uh, you left their wedding to come here?”

“Well, yeah. You said it was an emergency? So? What’s the emergency?”

“I, uh…” Bucky’s voice became a mumble. “I need help figuring out what to wear to a charity benefit tonight.”

Steve went cold. “You called me out of my best friends’ wedding because _you couldn’t decide what to wear_?” he asked dangerously, and Bucky went white. 

“Well, I mean—“

‘Have we not had this conversation countless times about what actually constitutes an emergency?” Steve asked, voice rising hysterically.

“Yes?”

“And has it ever been said that you being unable to choose your own clothing classes as an emergency?”

Bucky hung his head. “No.”

“Then what the fuck, Bucky?” Steve screeched, and Bucky winced. Steve began to pick clothes out as he ranted. “This was my best friends’ wedding day! I was head groomsman! This is something I’ll never be able to repeat or get back!” He thrust the clothes at Bucky, who took them meekly. “That’s it. I’ve had it. Consider this my two weeks’ notice.”

“No.”

Steve paused, looking at Bucky in shock. “No? What the hell do you mean, ‘no’?”

“We had a deal,” Bucky said firmly. “The proposal hasn’t been accepted yet, so you can’t leave.”

Steve narrowed his eyes, and Bucky took a step back. “Fine. If that’s how you want to play it.”

He marched back out, and caught a cab back to the wedding reception. He just hoped Sam and Natasha would forgive him. 

***

Steve spent the next week job hunting, but everywhere he went, he was turned down despite his credentials. At the third firm, Steve suddenly realized what was happening. “So Mr Barnes has been in touch,” he said wearily.

“I don’t know what you mean,” the man said, eyes darting from side to side.

“Ugh,” Steve groaned. “Well, thank you for your time, I guess.”

From that moment on, Steve was on a mission to get fired. He showed up late, swore a lot, and misbehaved in meetings with Bucky and his sister.

Finally, after about a week of this, Bucky stalked into Steve’s office, sighing. “Okay, I give up. Are you really that unhappy here?” he asked, looking a little upset. 

Steve shrugged. “I mean, yeah. I took this job to be your lawyer, a nine-to-five, not to be on call every second of the day. It’s unsustainable. I can’t keep on like this.”

Bucky frowned, then shrugged. “Okay, fine. But you have to help me hire your replacement.”

Steve smiled at him. “Deal.”

“Come on.” Bucky held out his arm. “We’ll discuss it over lunch.”

When their food arrived, Bucky took all of Steve’s tomatoes while Steve snagged Bucky’s lettuce and pickles. 

“So we want someone well qualified,” Steve began, and Bucky nodded.

“And they have to be attractive,” he added. Off of Steve’s pained look, Bucky sighed. “Look, I have to annoy my parents and Becca somehow. This is just the easiest way to do it.”

Steve’s eyes widened in understanding. “Okay,” he said softly. “We’ll see what we can do. I’ll organize the job spec that’ll go out. We won’t mention the looks requirement but we’ll bear it in mind when we get to interviews.”

“Thanks, Steve,” Bucky said softly. “You’re amazing.”

Steve felt a pang in his chest which he refused to acknowledge. It was probably just indigestion.

***

The interviews were a wreck. No one was good enough, or they were a little bit too attractive and Steve vetoed them for spurious reasons. He refused to examine why. 

The final candidate looked promising. On paper at least. His name was Helmut Zemo, a second generation U.S. immigrant of Sokovian descent, and he had studied law at Harvard. Bucky was in a meeting, so Steve conducted the interview himself. Zemo was handsome in a rakish kind of way—exactly Bucky’s type, in fact, so Steve had already decided to veto his appointment until Bucky sauntered into the room and started making conversation with him. They were getting on a little bit too well for Steve’s liking, and he cleared his throat.

“Well, thank you, Mr Zemo. We’ll be in touch,” he said tightly, and Zemo looked surprised, but nodded. 

“Thank you,” he said, mostly to Bucky, and left the room. Steve’s eyes narrowed as he watched Bucky watch Zemo leave. 

“He’s the one,” Bucky said when Zemo was out of earshot. When Steve opened his mouth to protest, Bucky sighed. “I’m serious, Steve. We’re out of options anyway. Hire him.”

“Fine,” Steve growled. 

***

The next week was a nightmare. Everywhere Bucky was, Zemo seemed to be, and vice versa. Steve supposed it could be because they had to get to know each other, but he suspected ulterior motives. Whether it was on Bucky or Zemo’s side, Steve didn’t know. All he knew was that it was happening and he was mad about it.

The annoying thing was that Zemo was totally smart and capable. He picked up everything he needed to learn quickly, and made himself useful even to Steve. It was getting frustrating because it seemed like Zemo was almost too perfect. 

On Steve’s second to last day in the office, the whole place was abuzz. That night was the office charity fundraiser party, and it seemed like everyone was excited. Steve had been too, until Zemo had told him that Bucky was giving him a ride to the party. Steve managed a smile, although internally he was fuming. When Bucky asked Steve later if he needed a ride, Steve smiled tightly and turned him down. There was no way he was going to be a third wheel. 

The party was a great success. Steve had dressed as Fred Astaire—top hat, white tie, tails and all—and he looked pretty dapper if he said so himself. He spotted Bucky across the way, talking with his sister and Zemo, but when Bucky spotted Steve his expression changed and he began to walk towards Steve, something in his gaze that Steve couldn’t define.

“You, uh. You look amazing,” Bucky said hoarsely, and Steve smiled.

“So do you.” Bucky had dressed in a classic Armani suit, and it fitted him perfectly. 

As they stood there, gazing at each other, Steve felt something shift and he wondered when he’d started feeling this way about Bucky. It seemed so obvious, like he’d felt this way for a long time, even though he had only just realized. He opened his mouth to say something, when Zemo appeared behind Bucky.

“Hey, Bucky,” Zemo simpered. “Thought you might want another drink.” 

“Thanks,” Bucky said slowly, not taking his eyes from Steve’s. 

“Oh, and I spoke to Becca about the planning permission to demolish the old community center so they can start breaking ground for the new hotel?” Zemo continued, and Bucky winced as Steve’s eyes widened.

“Demolish the community center? Bucky, we had a deal!” Steve said, disappointment coloring his tone. 

“I’m so sorry, Steve, I—“

“You know what? I don’t want to hear it.” Steve marched away and out of the party, ignoring Bucky calling his name behind him.

He found himself at Sam and Natasha’s apartment building, and hit the buzzer. Natasha looked out the window, her eyes going round when she saw Steve standing outside. “No, Sam, go back to bed,” she called over her shoulder. “I think this requires a woman’s touch.” She looked down at Steve. “I’ll be down in a second.”

Steve sat on the steps outside the door, and soon Natasha joined him. “I’ve screwed up, Natasha,” he said quietly.

“You fell for him, didn’t you?” When Steve looked at her in surprise, she gave him a half smile. “Honey, me and Sam saw this coming a mile away. You talk about him all the time, you let him get away with things you’d never let anyone else get away with… but if he’s hurt you I’ll kill him.”

Steve shrugged. “I guess I just expected him to be a better man than he is. I guess I thought I could _make_ him a better man. But in the end he’s just like every other guy, and screwed me over.”

Natasha narrowed her eyes. “That’s not the Steve I know,” she said. “The Steve I know wouldn’t give up so easily. He’d march right down to that idiot’s hotel and give him what for. And then, you know.” She winked. “Give him what for.”

Steve blushed. “I don’t even know if he likes me like that. He’s been spending all his time with the new lawyer recently.”

“Then go get him back!” Natasha told him, punching him hard enough in the shoulder to make him wince. 

Steve stood up, newly determined. “I will. Thanks, Natasha.”

“Any time. And I’m serious, if you need me to kill him I will.”

Steve kissed her on the cheek before hailing a cab.

***

He hurried into the elevator in the hotel, practicing in his mind exactly what he was going to say to Bucky when he saw him. The elevator dinged and Steve got out, only to be met with a half naked Zemo.

“Uh…” Steve managed, blinking.

“You’d better hurry up, because I’m about to take your knight and it’ll be check—-oh. Steve?” Bucky was blushing, which Steve had never seen him do before.

“Sorry,” Steve muttered. “I guess I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

He dashed into the elevator, managing to wait until the doors were closed before his eyes welled up with hot tears. Of course Bucky would sleep with Zemo. Of course Bucky didn’t have any feelings for Steve. Bucky had a type, and scrawny, short little runts weren’t it. 

He went back to his apartment and lay on his bed, fully clothed. This was a nightmare. But at least tomorrow was the last day he was going to have to see either of them.

***

The next day, his coworkers threw him a going away party, but the mood was so somber it might as well have been a funeral. Zemo came over to wish him well, but Steve could see the triumph behind his eyes and snorted. “Oh well,” Steve said airily, “I’m just glad I’m leaving before the job turned me into a complete slut, which every other person who has held this post has been, without exception.”

Zemo narrowed his eyes, looking like he was about to take a swing at Steve, but before he could, Bucky appeared and dragged Steve into the kitchen area.

“Steve, I...” he began, then looked at his feet. “I’m sorry about what you saw last night. But you need to tell me why you’re so upset.”

“Are you really knocking down the community center?” Steve asked, looking everywhere but at Bucky.

“Steve, for god’s sake, will you answer me?”

“Are you knocking down the community center?”

“Jesus,” Bucky said with a hoarse laugh. “No wonder Clint called you cold hearted. Is this what you do? When someone gets close to you, do you pull away and refuse to admit how you feel?”

“Fuck you, Bucky,” Steve growled, and stormed out, grabbing his box of things and taking it down to his car. He didn’t let himself think until he was back in his apartment, and the tears began to fall.

***

It was the day of the groundbreaking for the new hotel.

Not that Steve was keeping track or anything, but it was all over the damn news, and he was sick of seeing Bucky’s face everywhere. At least they didn’t have a TV in his new office, where he could take on meaningful cases pro-bono. 

About three p.m., the door opened, and the whole office went silent. Steve looked up and gasped. There stood Bucky, looking amazing as ever, a half smile on his face. Steve stood and went over to him.

“What do you want?” he asked quietly. “Say what you need to say and get out.”

“So, uh, I was supposed to make this big speech at the ground breaking today. About the fact we were destroying the community center for the greater good. And I… I couldn’t do it. I announced we were keeping it. I won’t bore you with the speech I did give, but it was all you, because for better or worse you’ve become the voice in my head, urging me to do better.” Steve stared at him, shocked. “Oh, and I didn’t sleep with Zemo,” Bucky added. “Just… wanted to make that clear. It was an ill-fated game of strip chess, but I didn’t sleep with him. I couldn’t have slept with him, because I love you.”

Now Bucky looked nervous, and Steve bit his lip. “I… Bucky, I don’t know how it would work between us. I’m a crusader, and you work for a corporation that flies against everything I stand for.”

“Worked,” Bucky corrected him. “I may have been fired from my position for refusing to do as I was told. We’ll be quite poor. We might even have to share a helicopter with another family.”

“I…” Steve looked around at his colleagues, who were desperately trying to pretend they weren’t listening in. “Thank you, for doing the right thing, but I can’t. I just can’t.”

“Oh.” Bucky’s face fell, and Steve felt like he’d just kicked a puppy. “Well, um. If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

He turned and walked out of the door, and Steve went back to his desk. The woman he had been talking to about her case looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “That was pretty sweet, what he said, though, right?” Steve said slowly.

“Are you outta your mind?” the woman shrieked. 

“I think I must be. Aww, hell.”

Steve stood and ran out the door, looking up and down the street before spotting Bucky’s form as he walked away. Steve dashed after him, and Bucky turned at the sound of running footsteps. “Steve?”

Steve had had enough of words. He grabbed hold of Bucky and dragged him down into a kiss, and Bucky made a joyful noise in his throat, wrapping his arms around Steve’s waist.

“I love you too,” Steve murmured against Bucky’s lips. “In case there was any doubt.”

Bucky smiled, and it was like the sun coming out after the rain.


End file.
